Is this the best brand partnership ever?

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Brand partnerships seem to be everywhere, and in this age of social media, it's easier than ever for brands to interact with each other.

Sometimes it's not a partnership more than an unplanned Twitter steak, like this cinema chain's Oreo takedown…

NOT COOL, COOKIE. RT @ Oreo : Have you ever brought your own Oreo cookies to the cinema? # Slicenacker

– AMC Theater (@AMCTheatres) September 25, 2012

Sometimes it's an intricately planned franchise + brand overarching, like with this combination of Covergirl cosmetics and the LucasFilm/Disney Star Wars: The Force Awakens…

But here's the problem with these two forms of co-branding: they don't get consumers to buy the product.

Sprout Social's research shows that trashing other brands is a buying motivator for 10% of consumers. Brands are funny? Just over a third of customers will make a purchase based on that behavior.

The top driver of brand behavior-based purchases on social media is being met. This is the right thing to do, a top priority in your social media strategy yours Right to serve your existing customers. After all, customer service on social media is an audience sport, and how you handle your business there can have a big impact on revenue and retention. I wrote all about how to do it well in my book, Hug your Haters .

The top driver of brand behavior on social media is being met, according to @SproutSocial. Click to Tweet

The second buying driver based on brand behavior on social media is promotion. Why do so many brand partnerships disregard the obvious? Just offer the customer a deal they find appealing.

Cooperation ever?

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This is why the brand partnership between T-Mobile and Taco Bell, announced during the 2019 Super Bowl, is so stellar.

The partnership is announced as T -Mobile customers using the T-Mobile app can get a free taco every Tuesday; No purchase or tie-in required.

Free? tacos? every ? the week. Starting today, we will provide customers @ TacoBell Free tacos in # TMobileTuesdays application.

– T-Mobile (@TMobile) February 5, 2019

The customer base is naturally aligned in that they skew male, skewed younger, and skewed towards value seekers. This is an over-the-top partnership – more engaging than other programs T-Mobile has done with brands like Panera Bread, and they're backing it up with a massive awareness campaign, including Super Bowl ad.

Is it Tuesday yet? ? https://t.co/x9HJW6xk5l

– Taco Bell (@tacobell) February 4, 2019

The benefits for T-Mobile customers are pretty simple: free tacos for doing nothing but not canceling your cell phone contract.

The benefits for Taco Bell include a lot of the general public and the possibility that when this brand partnership brings T-Mobile customers to the restaurant every Tuesday, they will also buy drinks and/or more items. eat more. Given that a basic taco retails for $1.19, the magnitude here is reasonable but still convincing enough to drive customer behavior.

Brand partnerships can be a 1 + 1 = 3 case, especially as they can be amplified on social media (and the relationship will be mentioned around Tuesday for until expiration). If you want to interact with other brands – great! But remember what customers REALLY want: customer service and incentives.

As a marketing professional, you may be attracted by creative brand tweets, etc., but that's not what customers really want.